


Limited Edition

by Hours_Gone_By



Series: Trope Bingo Round Twelve [25]
Category: Transformers - Aligned Continuity Family, Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Books, Community: trope_bingo, M/M, Pre-War, Rare Pairings, Rare Relationships, Rival Book Collectors, Rivalry, Rivals to Lovers, Trope Bingo Round 12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 08:53:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19422637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hours_Gone_By/pseuds/Hours_Gone_By
Summary: Starscream loses out on yet another rare book auction and makes contact with the mech who keeps outbidding him, finding that they're exactly the opposite of the stuffy librarian he'd expected.





	Limited Edition

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Trope Bingo](https://trope-bingo.dreamwidth.org) [Round 12](https://trope-bingo.dreamwidth.org/tag/round+twelve). Prompt: Rivals to Lovers

Starscream glared at the results of the latest rare book auction he'd bid on. He'd lost, again, and to the same rival collector for the fifth time! In a row! This was the longest streak, but he'd lost other auctions to the same mech before. Whoever this bidder #806 was, they had the same taste in literature as Starscream and, it seemed, a far larger bank account.

"How annoying," he muttered to himself, clearing the screen of his tablet, so he didn't have to see the disappointing results anymore.

Starscream spun in his chair, turning so he could look over his collection. Perhaps it wasn't as vast as some, he thought proudly, but it was well taken care of and contained quite a few rare items. Not everything was museum quality, it was true, but still! Highflight's _Atmosphaerae Motus Fugae_ wasn't easy to come by, and he had one of two signed copies of Skyclaw's _Advanced Astrophysics Second Edition_ plus a few similar gems. Why there were some rare books he even had duplicates of. Duplicates, he realized, that were in the same genres as the auctions he kept losing to this…this _#806_.

Starscream grabbed for the tablet and scrolled through the auction catalogue once more. Yes, there _were_ some copies of his duplicate editions listed and #806 had bid, and lost, on them. Starscream could certainly afford to trade up his duplicates for books he didn't have.

So, he had something #806 wanted. Wanted, perhaps, badly enough to trade?

Starscream sent a private message to #806 with his offer and waited for a reply. It came within a mega-cycle.

#806 was an Iaconian archivist named Orion Pax, and he was willing to discuss Starscream's proposal. Pax couldn't promise he'd be able to trade for everything Starscream suggested, of course, not least because he was buying for the archives themselves in some cases. That probably meant this Pax mech had a head full of trivia and tended to daydream. Starscream was confident in his ability to out-negotiate a stuffy old librarian who spent his days in the data-streams.

That plan got derailed once he actually got a look at the archivist. Orion Pax was not old, he was focused, and had very blue optics and a rather elegant frame – er, for a grounder, at least.

"I apologize that I'm unable to trade for some of the volumes you wanted," Pax said earnestly, during their vidcall. "I did ask the chief archivist if we had editions we could trade for some of what you offer. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to convince him."

Well, that was hardly unexpected. Still, Starscream thought, he'd be able to get a few things he wanted out of this.

"A shame," Starscream said smoothly. "I appreciate your effort on my behalf, however. Now, where shall we begin…?"

The negotiations were lengthy, but not unpleasant. Orion Pax was enthusiastic about his subject, and it was certainly no hardship to listen to, or look at, him. By the time a cycle had passed, they had come to an agreement on items to trade.

"I’m somewhat reluctant to send these by courier," Pax said at the end of their call. "I would gladly bring them to you myself, but I'm not able to get away from work long enough to travel to Vos and back just now."

Starscream did not have that problem, being, shall we say, self-employed.

"Fortunately, I find myself able to travel to Iacon," Starscream said, quite generously he felt. "I could easily bring the books – _your_ books now, I suppose I should say – and make the trade there. If you're agreeable, of course…?"

Of course, Pax was. 'Agreeable' seemed to be the mech's natural state. Starscream didn't object to the idea of spending a couple of days in Iacon. There shouldn't be any problems as long as he was discreet and made sure to stay clear of certain people, and areas, and – well, he was sure Cryotek had forgotten all about _that_. It didn't hurt to be cautious, however, so Starscream made sure to book a hotel at a decent distance from the gangster's usual haunts.

Starscream arrived a day or so early for his meeting, which would take place the following evening once Orion got off work. Starscream spent the time visiting a few sites of interest, catching up with some old friends who greeted him with varying degrees of enthusiasm. He set some time aside between that and Orion's arrival at his hotel by treating himself to a detailing at the hotel spa – appearance was important in a business deal, after all. A good polish could give a mech the upper hand before he'd even opened his mouth. Besides, Orion was an attractive mech and, well, it wouldn't be the first time a business deal led to something else.

Orion Pax wasn't freshly polished when he appeared in the hotel lobby, but he was respectably clean and had seen the inside of a detailing salon sometime in the past deca-cycle or so. Reasonable, for a middle-class mech.

Orion Pax smiled when he saw Starscream, and that was, well, very nice. Quite charming. Pax wasn't interested in merely making the trade and parting ways, either. He wanted to _talk_ about the books they were trading, and not just provenances and condition, either. Starscream was pleasantly surprised to find he'd _read_ each of the books. Not always the rare copies, of course, they were rare for a reason but still. Yes, book collectors generally did want to _read_ the books they collected, but mecha who collected them just to show off their wealth were hardly unknown.

Starscream had read them too, of course, and that discussion wound into a comparison of what _else_ they liked to read and then it was well past time to fuel. Starscream insisted upon treating Orion to dinner in the hotel restaurant, and they continued to talk as they fuelled. Orion Pax was a very intelligent mech, easy to listen to, and not at all hard to look at either. Idly, Starscream wondered where else their evening might go.

Starscream hadn't been bothering to keep track of his chronometer – had dismissed it from his HUD in fact – so when Orion pointed out the restaurant staff were trying to close up he was startled. Starscream wouldn't have thought anything about making the staff wait until _he_ was ready to leave, but Orion insisted on not keeping them any longer than they had to. Starscream had thought waitstaff were paid by the cycle and wouldn't object to staying if it made them more money, but perhaps Orion knew better. If their pay were set, Starscream certainly couldn't blame them for not wanting to stay later than necessary.

They left the restaurant and Starscream was preparing for Orion to say goodnight when the other mech caught him off guard by suggesting they retire to Starscream's room instead. Starscream had been thinking of making precisely that request himself, but he hadn't realized Orion might be so forward! Not that Starscream was objecting, by any means.

Starscream put on his most charming smile. "If you're willing to stay, I'm certainly willing to continue our discussion."

"I'd be open to discussion," Orion agreed. He touched Starscream's wrist gently, not close enough to a data port to be an open invitation but near enough to be suggestive. "Perhaps, to other things as well?"

Starscream gave a little flutter of invitation with his wings, letting his smile turn just a touch sultry. He turned his wrist into Orion's touch.

"I believe that can be arranged," Starscream purred and led Orion to the lift. "I'm also thinking of extending my visit for another mega-cycle." At least, he was now. "Would you be free tomorrow?"

"I had planned to get a drink with a friend of mine, but you're welcome to join us," Orion offered. "I think you might like him."

"Is he a fellow collector?"

"No, but he is somewhat in the field." The lift doors closed just as Orion explained, "he writes poetry."


End file.
